Treatment Method for Reducing Contaminating Agents in Liquid Mixtures of Substituted Hydrocarbons Used as Fuels

ABSTRACT

A treatment method for reducing contaminating agents in liquid mixtures of substituted hydrocarbons used as fuels is provided. A supersaturated mixture of ferrous oxide is combined with the hydrocarbons and mixed to form a homogenous solution. The homogenous solution is allowed to separate by means of settling and an aqueous solution is decanted to thereby produce a refined liquid hydrocarbons.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. utility patent application Ser. No. 16/328,185, titled “TREATMENT METHOD FOR REDUCING CONTAMINATING AGENTS IN LIQUID MIXTURES OF SUBSTITUTED HYDROCARBONS USED AS FUELS,” filed Feb. 25, 2019, which is a national stage application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of international patent application serial no. PCT/IB2016/055210, titled “TREATMENT METHOD FOR REDUCING CONTAMINATING AGENTS IN LIQUID MIXTURES OF SUBSTITUTED HYDROCARBONS USED AS FUELS,” filed Aug. 31, 2016. Each of the above applications is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety

BACKGROUND

This specification relates to methods for heterogeneous catalysis and refinement of hydrocarbons used as fuels.

Liquid hydrocarbons used as fuel, such as gasoline, gas oil or diesel, jet fuel, or kerosene, are toxic and highly flammable. Vapors produced by their evaporation and substances created when burnt, such as carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides, non-burnt hydrocarbons, etc., contribute to air pollution. Also, burning these fuels additionally produces carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas directly related to global climate change.

Concerned for environment pollution, governments have passed legislation aimed to reduce pollutants from hydrocarbons used as fuels. Currently there is a need for more efficient refining methods. Prior art processes for the desulfurization of hydrocarbon fractions containing organic sulfur compounds impurities are well known.

The prior art teaches a number of alternative gasoline and diesel refining processes, such as direct absorption methods (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,733 to NAGI et al.), bio-processing methods (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,440 to Grossman et al.), selective oxidation methods (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,341,448 to Ford et al.), and zeolites catalyzing methods (e.g., Maxwell, I. E.; Stork, W. H. J. Hydrocarbon processing with zeolites. Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis, 2001, vol. 137, p. 747-819).

However, all prior art methods have inconveniences. For example, many of such methods can desulfurize only hydrocarbons, but fail to reduce benzenes and harmful aromatic compounds. Additionally, in practice, these methods usually involve high costs that hinder their continuous use.

Although prior art refinement removes some polluting components, the resulting fuel loses effectiveness as such compounds help in its combustion. Therefore, a refining and catalyzing method that removes polluting agents and provides performance benefits at a reasonable cost is required.

SUMMARY

This invention pertains to a method of refining and catalyzing liquid hydrocarbons used as fuel that eliminates sulfur, aromatic compounds, benzenes, xylenes, toluenes, in addition to oxidizing available octanes to act as an oxidizer during the hydrocarbon combustion processes, which provides better burning and greater energy availability for industrial fuel uses.

The disclosed method is applicable to mixed fuels in the final stage of hydrocarbon refining, i.e., fuels that, in current state of the art, are used as final products available for sale to consumers.

The disclosed method comprises mixing small solid ferrous oxide particles with water vapor until a heterogeneous mixture is achieved. This heterogeneous mixture is then poured into a container with substituted hydrocarbons used as fuel, and is combined and mixed constantly for a few minutes.

The result is fuel with a lower hydrocarbon count. In gasoline, cyclic hydrocarbons count is lower, and in diesel and jet fuel lineal hydrocarbon count is reduced.

The chemical reaction is not fully understood at the time of filing this application. Some studies teach that ferrous oxide particles catalyze propene oxidation with dioxygen. See, e.g., HAMADA, Hideaki, et al. Role of supported metals in the selective reduction of nitrogen monoxide with hydrocarbons over metal/alumina catalysts. Catalysis today, 1996, vol. 29, no 1, p. 53-57. Hence, an emulsion is produced which hydrocarbon refining properties are indisputable, as may be seen in the experimental evidence presented in the figures of this technical document.

Technical Problem

Hydrocarbons used in commerce as fuel carry high concentrations of sulfur, aromatic compounds, benzenes, xylenes, toluenes, and others. Burning these fuels in internal combustion engines is not efficient enough to burn all of these compounds, so they are released into the atmosphere.

Solution to the Problem

A treatment method for reducing polluting agents in liquid substituted hydrocarbons used as fuel is disclosed comprising blending a heterogeneous mixture of ferrous oxide in water with said fuel, mixing or constantly combining the solution, allowing the mixture to settle, and removing the aqueous solution of ferrous oxide and water by decanting.

Advantageous Effects of the Invention

The fuel obtained as a result of applying the disclosed method contains a lower count of polluting compounds containing sulfur, aromatic compounds, benzenes, xylenes, toluenes, and others. Additionally, it increases fuel burning efficiency because, during the chemical reaction, hydrocarbons gain additional oxygen atoms that help as an oxidizer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Disclosed embodiments and their advantages may be better understood making joint reference to the following description and attached figures. These figures do not limit in any way the disclosed compound's advantageous effects of its physicochemical interactions as catalyzer and refiner that a person having ordinary skill in the art may find, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. All figures are graphics resulting from the analysis of the aforementioned hydrocarbon, performed by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) with MS Perkin Elmer Clarus 580 MS Clarus SQ 85, column Perkin Elmer Elite 5 MS 30 m×0.32 mm DI 0.25 μm, and dichloromethane HPLC grade as control solvent, with an injector temperature of 250° C., column temperature 50° C./12 min, of 6° C./1 min, and 120° C./10 min, with an injection volume of 2 μl, and a mobile Helium phase of 0-8 ml/min. These MS conditions were performed with ionization energy of 70 eV, a transfer temperature of 180° C., and a ionization source temperature of 200° C.

FIG. 1 is the graphic result of the GC-FID analysis of a commercially available diesel sample, in which the X axis shows minutes lapsed, and the Y axis shows voltage in mV.

FIG. 2 is the graphic result of the GC-FID analysis of a commercially available diesel sample, treated with the claimed compound and method, in which the X axis shows minutes lapsed, and the Y axis shows voltage in mV, and the hydrocarbon reduction is appreciated.

FIG. 3 is the graphic result of the GC-FID analysis of a commercially available gasoline sample, in which the X axis shows minutes lapsed, and Y axis shows voltage in V.

FIG. 4 is the graphic result of the GC-FID analysis of a commercially available gasoline sample, treated with the claimed compound and method, in which the X axis shows minutes lapsed, and the Y axis shows voltage in mV, and the hydrocarbon reduction is appreciated.

FIG. 5 is the graphic result of the GC-FID analysis of a commercially available jet fuel sample, in which the X axis shows minutes lapsed, and Y axis shows voltage in mV.

FIG. 6 is the graphic result of the GC-FID analysis of a commercially available jet fuel sample, treated with the claimed compound and method, in which the X axis shows minutes lapsed, and Y axis shows voltage in mV, and the hydrocarbon reduction is appreciated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

There is a pressing need for a method that reduces pollutant agents in liquid substituted hydrocarbon mixtures used as fuels. The prior art teaches a number of refining steps to convert crude oil into industrially usable fuels. However, these fuels still have sulfur compounds, aromatic compounds, benzenes, xylenes, benzenes, toluenes, and others that do not burn properly when used. Accordingly, a better refining method is necessary to reduce the contaminating effects of fuels.

The process is achieved by supersaturating ferrous oxide in water. The ferrous oxide supersaturation process has been described by, for example, Martin, Scot T. Precipitation and dissolution of iron and manganese oxides. Environmental Catalysis, 2005, p. 61-81. This supersaturated solution serves as catalyzer for refining fuel.

The supersaturated ferrous oxide solution is mixed with the fuel. It is well known that the ferrous oxide supersaturated solution may be used in a proportion of up to 70% of said solution against 30% fuel. However, in the preferred embodiment, the mixture is done with 10% solution to 90% fuel (e.g., 100 liters of supersaturated ferrous oxide solution for each 1,000 liters of fuel to be refined).

The supersaturated solution must be mixed by constant fluid blending, either by agitation, fluid recirculation, or barometric variation. In the preferred embodiment, 1 liter of this mixture must be mixed for at least one minute.

The result of said mixing is a reduction of hydrocarbons in the final fuel. FIG. 1 shows a graphic result of gas chromatography of a commercially available diesel sample. The first spike belongs to the dichloromethane used as control solvent. FIG. 2 shows a graphic result of gas chromatography of a commercially available diesel after treatment with the claimed method. As can be seen in accordance with the retention time shown in FIG. 2, the amount of linear hydrocarbons has decreased, which demonstrates the refining capabilities of the method.

FIG. 3 shows the graphic result of gas chromatography of a commercially available gasoline sample. The first spike belongs to the dichloromethane used as control solvent. FIG. 4 shows the graphic result of gas chromatography of the same commercially available gasoline sample after being treated with the claimed method. It will be appreciated that the quantity of cyclic hydrocarbons has also decreased.

FIG. 5 corresponds to the analysis of commercially available jet fuel, and FIG. 6 corresponds to the analysis of the same jet fuel after being treated with the claimed method. The results are similar to those of diesel and gasoline.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

This method is applicable to any industry in which fuel is used and there is a desire to reduce polluting combustion byproducts and improve fuel efficiency. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for refining liquid hydrocarbons used as fuels, the method comprising: supersaturating ferrous oxide in water to produce a supersaturated solution; combining and mixing the supersaturated solution with liquid hydrocarbons used as fuel to form a homogenous mixture, wherein the liquid hydrocarbons comprise one or more contaminating agents; allowing the homogenous mixture to settle such that an aqueous solution separates from the liquid hydrocarbons, the aqueous solution comprising an amount of the one or more contaminating agents; and decanting the aqueous solution from the liquid hydrocarbons to thereby produce refined liquid hydrocarbons having the amount of the one or more contaminating agents removed therefrom.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more contaminating agents are selected from the group consisting of: sulfur, aromatic compounds, benzenes, xylenes, and toluenes.
 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the homogenous mixture comprises 10% v/v supersaturated solution and 90% v/v liquid hydrocarbons.
 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein said combining and mixing is performed by at least one of: agitation, fluid recirculation, and barometric variation. 